Space Nomad
by 2fruity4u
Summary: Plasmius is content with his simple life in the ghost zone. He doesn't know who he was in the past but it never bothered him before. Not until Danny Phantom showed up anyway.
1. Do I Know You?

Plasmius was a ghost who did not expect much out of his afterlife aside from his small creature comforts. He stayed in his lair most of the time, a quaint cottage that he was hardly ever disturbed at. Most ghosts tended to avoid him and while Plasmius didn't know why, he liked it that way. The fights some of them got into were much too much for his taste. Even when not fighting they were a loud and rowdy bunch. Plasmius much preferred his armchair and collection of novels.

That's why he was stunned speechless when he looked up from his gardening one day to find Danny Phantom, hero of the ghost zone and the human world, floating in front of him. He had never met him properly but he had heard many stories about him and his drive to protect the town he inhabited in the human realm.

"Hello Mr. Phantom…" Plasmius said slowly. "Or perhaps you prefer Danny? In any case it is nice to meet you." He held out his hand to shake but Danny just stared at it incredulously. Plasmius realized that it might be because it was covered in dirt. Right, gardening."Er… yes well..." He dropped his hand and cleared his throat. "Right, well, won't you come in? I have tea on a warmer and I should still have a few scones. I daresay you have made a long trip to get here, I hear the portal to the human world is a few hours away at best." He said, trying again to be amicable.

He opened the door to his lair and motioned for Phantom to come inside. He did move this time, though Plasmius noticed that he never turned his back on him. Perhaps he was just suspicious by nature. That was fine, Plasmius himself was wary of most other ghosts.

He followed after and set about pouring tea for both of them. He handed a cup to his guest before making his own. "I must confess I am surprised to see you here, I was under the impression that you don't often leave your human town. Is there some sort of trouble with it?" Plasmius sat down and took a sip of the tea, looking at Phantom curiously.

"Yes… and no." Phantom replied with a frown.

"Oh thank goodness." Plasmius was elated that he had gotten him to speak. The non-answer was better than nothing. "Not about your town, I am sorry to hear there is some trouble of course, but I must confess, I was starting to think you were mute." He chuckled nervously. "Not that there is anything wrong with that but, I have no knowledge of sign language and it would be rather hard to communicate." Of course some ghosts don't speak but most could communicate in ghost.

"I can talk just fine Vlad." Phantom said after a few moments pause.

"Ah, no I think you misheard me. My name is Plasmius, not Vlad. Though I can see how the two may be confused." Plasmius said gently. "If there is trouble in your town have you gone looking for this Vlad for help? I can't believe any ghost would point you towards me for such a thing. I'm well near useless."

Phantom's eyes narrowed. "Look, I'm just trying to figure out who the hell you think you're fooling with this act, _Plasmius_."

Plasmius has picked the wrong moment to take a sip of his tea and choked on it. He had to wait for the subsequent coughing fit to die down before he could respond. "Fooling? Act? What in the name of candy corn are you talking about?"

"I knew you'd be back eventually, granted five years was longer than I expected, but you came back in the end. You're planning something and I know it." Phantom set his cup down and cast him an accusatory glare.

"The only thing I am planning _dear boy_ is an extension to my lair. I hardly doubt that is what you have in mind. You must have me confused with this Vlad you are looking for. Did he cause the trouble in your town? In my whole existence I have never even visited the human realm."

"You _are_ human you fruitloop!"

" _Was._ Obviously at one point I was human, or at the very least alive. But I am dead now." He said simply, as if that fact didn't bother him in the least. "My living self undoubtedly walked the earth but as a ghost I've never seen a portal, let alone the living world itself." He held up the tray of scones to Phantom but they were waved away.

"Are you kidding me? That has got to be the most piss poor excuse I've ever heard. Playing pretend won't get you out of what you did fruitloop."

"What exactly did I do if you don't mind me asking? I seem to be a bit behind the times." Plasmius questioned dryly. "And why do you keep calling me Fruit Loop?"

"What did… you held the entire world hostage! You caused a meteor strike and then you held the _entire fucking human race hostage!_ You can't just pretend like you didn't do that!"

"Right…" Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "I remember that, and afterwards I discovered Atlantis and unlocked the key to immortality." He set his cup down. "Wait, wait now that I think about it I didn't do those things because Atlantis doesn't exist, immortality is impossible and most importantly, _humans can't cause meteor strikes."_

Phantom just glared at him causing Plasmius to sigh. "Look, if human me annoyed you or whatever the case might be, I am sorry. However I truly have no memory of such events and I don't appreciate someone trying to sell me lies about who I used to be. I respect you for what you did for the earth and ghost zone, and for that I see no reason to be less than civil to you." Plasmius offered the scones again and this time Phantom accepted one.

"You respect me for saving both worlds." Phantom said slowly. "Saving then from what?"

"Well… whatever was endangering them of course. I wasn't a ghost yet so I have heard only secondhand tellings of your heroism." Plasmius finally sat down across from Danny. "Though to be quite honest it's only been whispers from passersby and a few brief conversations with two ghosts I keep in regular contact with, Ghost Writer and Clockwork I don't suppose you know either of them." He took a bite of a scone and noticed only then did Phantom try some himself. This ghost was a little more than wary, more like borderline paranoid Plasmius thought to himself. "They stay to themselves, much like me."

"You never thought to ask what I saved the world from? Wait, you know _who now?_ " Phantom asked, sidetracked by the mention of the ghosts.

"Well no, like I said I've only ever talked about it in passing." He shrugged. "Oh, I'll take it that you do know at least one of them then? I do like Clockwork, he's easy to get along with and he doesn't avoid me like most ghosts seem to. Ghost Writer shares my distaste for fights so we get along rather well, of course we swap books occasionally." He nodded over to the shelves stuffed with all sorts of books. Suddenly a realization hit him. "Oh, I get it now! I must have been a ghost hunter!" Plasmius bopped his forehead. "It would make all the sense in the world, why so many ghosts avoid me, why you dislike me, why only ghosts who never leave the ghost zone would agree to talking with me. I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner!"

Plasmius took Phantom's blank look as a look of shock, that he had figured out the truth. "I got some shots in at you no doubt, I understand why you'd be unhappy with me. I formally apologize for that, if I knew then what I know now about ghosts I would have never intended to harm you or anyone else."

"That's… I mean you aren't… completely wrong?" Phantom frowned. "You got your fair share of hits in, more than your fair share honestly but you weren't exactly a ghost hunter… not really… I mean you hunted ghosts… sometimes… if it benefited you."

"Well I hardly think that I would hunt ghosts if there was no benefit to me." Plasmius laughed. "I can't see ghost hunting being something you pick up out of sheer boredom or indifference. That's what things like knitting are for."

"What? No, I mean like you only hunted ghosts if you got some personal thing out of it like someone's trust or some ghostly artifact you could use, y'know, selfish."

"I don't really see a problem, everyone has motives, you included my boy." Plasmius retorted.

"Stop calling me that!" Phantom snapped. "Of course I don't have motives. I'm not a fruitloop. I just like helping people."

"So helping people makes you feel good, still not all that altruistic if you think about it. No such that as altruism really. Everyone has a reason for what they do, right?"

"You know what? I've had enough of this bull." Phantom stood up expression stony. "You're coming with me. I'll prove that you are still human and you can drop this _stupid_ charade."

"Am I now?" Plasmius frowned, setting down his cup. "I do believe you are mistaken, you see, I may seem like a pushover but I stay here and woe be it to the ghost or human that thinks they can remove me."

Danny's eyes flashed a brighter green. "Oh I can and _will fruitloop."_ He took out what seemed like a soup tin and uncapped it.

Plasmius snorted. "What are you going to do? Scald me?"

Plasmius realized seconds later that he was wrong to underestimate the one they called the hero of worlds.

He realized this when he found himself somehow crammed into the sad looking soup tin.


	2. Gunpoint Reunion

Plasmius was unceremoniously dumped out onto the floor of an unfamiliar room. He rubbed his head where it met with the tile. "Look, Phantom, I am sorry if I offended you. I realize that just because I don't believe in altruism doesn't… mean…" His sentence was forgotten as he heard the telltale sound of a gun. Having never met a hunter Plasmius wasn't sure how he knew what they sounded like but some reflex kept him from making any sudden movements.

"Hands where we can see them ghost!" A voice ordered.

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me." He raised his hands above his head and slowly looked up at two unfamiliar people, both with guns trained on him.

"I'm awful at fighting so you really don't need _that_ much firepower." Bluffing might have been the better idea but he didn't realize that until it was too late. In his defense there were two guns in his face so higher cognitive functions weren't all that reasonable at the current moment.

Of course, the pair of hunters didn't move a muscle, he would have thought they were statues if he didn't know any better. "Look, I don't know what Phantom told you but-"

"I'm right here Vlad." The ghost floated into his line of sight and Plasmius scoffed.

"So you deliver me to ghost hunters because of something I don't even remember doing and then you just float there waiting for them to shoot me? Why the fudge aren't they shooting you?"

"Because I didn't try to kill them." Phantom retorted, arms crossed.

"Okay so two counts of attempted murder, a hostage situation, and… oh right, a _meteor strike_. Are there any other awful crimes I should be aware of? Did I burn down an orphanage? Drown a kitten perchance?" At the word kitten a small white and grey cat ran out from behind the ghost hunters and jumped up on his lap. If he still wasn't holding his hands above his head he would have immediately taken it out of the line of fire. As it was he expected the two ghost hunters to react in _some_ manner to their pet getting so close to the enemy.

"Are you really going to continue a gunpoint interrogation when your cat is in the middle of it?" Plasmius asked after a few moments of charged silence. "Jesus, if it were mine I'd make sure it was safe before potential shots were fired."

"Uh… Vlad it _is_ your's." Phantom was frowning. "We found it at your mansion."

"I don't _have_ a mansion cheese biscuits people I am not this Vlad person!" Plasmius said for what he felt was the thousandth time.

"You sure _look_ like Vlad's ghost half." The woman finally spoke up, glaring at him with such intensity that he flinched. "I _would_ know." Oh she was pissed at something.

"Er… did… did I… do something to-"

"Danny… I don't think this is Vlad." The man interrupted.

"What gave it away?" Plasmius asked with a flat tone. "Me telling you it wasn't me or-"

"What do you mean?" Phantom interrupted this time. Plasmius was starting to get annoyed with these people.

"Of course it is, just look at him!" Phantom continued, gesturing emphatically at him. "He said cheese biscuits instead of swearing. Tell me about one other person in the known universe that says shit like that."

"I…" his eyebrow creased as he looked at Plasmius, "I think… well I think… well Vlad might be… dead." There was a brief look of sadness that caught Plasmius off guard. He didn't even think about the possibility that his human self might have had people who cared about him. Of course, he didn't think those same people would be okay with pointing guns at the ghost of their friend but here they all were.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to die… at least I don't think so." He wasn't sure why he felt like he owed this man such a ridiculous apology but he did.

"No." Phantom crossed his arms and turned to the pair of ghost hunters again. "He keeps saying that but there's no way. You don't get it, I mean we go through some bad stuff but half ghosts… they just don't die, I'm telling you." Phantom stood on the floor and transformed into a seemingly normal human. "Maybe he can't remember but he can't be all dead. He probably got hit by flying space debris or something." Phantom focused back on Plasmius. "Look, it's easy. Just change back."

"I've been trying to tell you." Plasmius slowly began to lower his arms. "I can't and even if I _could_ I wouldn't do it right now. Not with a gun trained on me." He then removed the cat from his lap in an equally careful manner, not wanting it to be in the middle of this little… chat. "I'm not… whatever you are Phantom. I'm _just_ a ghost."

"Prove it then." Danny crossed his arms with a petulant expression.

Plasmius shook his head. "I have fangs, I am glowing, I can fly, what more do you want from me? I can't do whatever trick you are pulling off, and I really wouldn't want to. If people hated me as much as you say then why the hell would I want to be human again?"

Several things happened in rapid succession before Danny could reply.

First, the cat jumped for, and missed, Plasmius' shoulders. Missing its initial target the cat clawed Vlad's back instead.

Second, Plasmius yelped in surprise, floating up several feet, causing the cat to trail behind, holding onto his cape for dear life.

Third, a gunshot rang out.


	3. Speaking In Tongues

"God damn _mother fucking_ _ **son of a-**_ "

"Sorry Vladdy, almost done." The ghost hunter who's name turned out to be Jack said soothingly as Maddie finished up another stitch on Plasmius' leg. Danny Fenton, as he liked to be referred to as a human had not stopped staring at Plasmius since he was shot, mainly because he had never heard Vlad or Plasmius say anything more hardcore than darn and the stream of profanities issuing from him now was enough to send anyone into shock.

"Plasmius! My name is fucking Plasmius how fucking hard is that to fucking understand?! Call me FUCKING PLASMIUS!"

"Alright fucking Plasmius, one last stitch and you are done." The woman who turned out to be called Maddie said with an eye roll.

"You _god damn well know what I mean_ you fucking-"

"And we're done." Maddie cut the glowing thread and surveyed her handiwork.

"Done? This fucking hurts what the actual shit? This is not done! Where the hell are the painkillers." Plasmius exclaimed, looking at his leg in horror.

"If I had anything that would knock you out I would have used it before I started sewing." Maddie said dryly. "I don't have ghost painkillers so you'll just have to cope."

"Uh…" all three people looked up at Danny. "I think we got the wrong ghost."

Maddie rolled her eyes again, Jack started laughing, and Plasmius shot Danny a venomous glare. "No- _fucking_ -way! When'd you figure that one out dipshit?"

"Vlad… doesn't cuss." Danny said slowly, still looking shell shocked.

"The Vlad you knew didn't cuss." Jack corrected, still looking amused by Danny's reaction. "The Vlad we knew?" He shared a knowing look with Maddie. "Well that's a different story."

"I always wondered what it would take for him to slip up. He used to be the most foul mouthed person I knew." Maddie said in a matter of fact manner as she took off her gloves. "I think the soft swearing was for the whole public persona."

"I'm _right_ here, stop talking about me like I'm not!" Plasmius practically hissed out.

"I'm talking about Vlad, I thought you didn't know him." Maddie said cooly.

"Yes but you think he is me so you are talking about me!"

"Well Plasmius, I suppose I should formally apologize for shooting you. I didn't expect you to move so suddenly." She sighed. "All the same… well I can't say I'm sorry I did it, you had it coming. But I'm sorry that I couldn't shoot the you that remembers that."

"Stellar apology fuckwit." Plasmius said through gritted teeth. "If you ever lose your memory I'll be sure to take it out on you when you don't know what the fuck you've even done."

She shrugged. "Be thankful you got that much. I was thinking about literally rubbing salt in your wound so I think this is the better outcome for you."

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Plasmius crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Hm… well now that's all done, Danny why don't you see about putting some sheets on the bed in the guestroom?" Maddie asked.

" _What!?"_ Plasmius and Danny said in almost perfect unison.

"He is _not_ sleeping in the room next to me!"

"I'm not sleeping at all! Like hell i'm going to actually let my guard down in a house full of trigger happy ghost hunters. I'm going home!"

"Uh… Vladdy or… Plasmius that might not be the best-"

"Okay have fun destabilizing." Maddie pushed a button and the portal opened up. "The next hour should really be fun."

Plasmius stared blankly at the portal. "What the fuck are you talking about? I thought you fixed it!"

"I made it so you aren't losing ectoplasm anymore. The gun I shot you with is specially designed to destabilize ghosts the more they use their powers. If you try to fly back home you won't have a leg to worry about anymore."

Plasmius looked from Maddie to Jack in shock. "You can't be serious! Isn't it bad enough to just shoot someone? You have to make their lives hell too? How long does this last?"

"Well, in all our field tests no ghost had the sense to stop using their powers…" Jack started uncertainly.

"Oh, I wonder why…"

"Theoretically as a level nine specter the toxin should leave your system in four days. Provided you don't use your powers again." Maddie cut in. "I'd say you should refrain for a week though, just to be certain."

"A week? _Here?"_ Plasmius asked, hoping someone, anyone would say this was all just a joke, that he could go home now and never come back.

No one did.

"F...udge buckets. Fine." He attempted to stand, since apparently flying would kill him. "I'll stay here but if anyone points another gun at me you really are going to see a vengeful spirit."

"I'm shaking in my boots." Maddie deadpanned. She closed the portal again.

Plasmius was able to balance on one leg, using the table he had been sitting on as support. "Where am I to stay?"

"Upstairs. Danny do you think you could help him-"

"Oh, no. _Hell_ no." Plasmius interrupted Maddie. "I don't trust either of you, certainly not enough to help me up a flight of stairs. Phantom would trip me and you would probably just shoot me again. He's helping me." He pointed to Jack. All three of the Fentons looked astonished.

"What, Me?" Jack asked, looking like he hadn't believed what he heard.

"Yes you, you're built like a fridge, you shouldn't have trouble with it. Right?" There was nothing malicious in Plasmius' tone, it was a statement of fact. He towered over the rest of his family after all.

"Yeah, no it's fine I mean… are you sure you want _me_ to help you?" Disbelief echoed in his words.

"Well seeing as you are the only one who hasn't attacked me thus far, I think I'm safest with you. Am I mistaken?"

"No, no I'll take good care of you Vlad- or Plasmius!" Jack grinned and scooped him up. "Let's get you upstairs so you can get some rest!"

As Plasmius was carried up the steps he heard Maddie ask Danny "Still think he's pretending?"

He didn't hear the answer.


	4. Getting to know me

"So…" Plasmius grasped for something to talk about as Jack carried him to the guest room. "Nice place you have here."

"It's pretty great, isn't it?" Jack said with a broad grin. "Wait till you see the ops center though, that's where most of our work went into, besides the lab of course."

"I'm guessing this place was a fixer upper then?" Plasmius asked. "My lair is like that. I mean, it used to just be a sitting room but I added on a kitchen and a bedroom. I'm working on a little atrium right now for my garden, to keep seedlings in, as well as the more delicate plants. The fluctuations of the ghost zone aren't quite as volitie as what I've heard of the human world's seasons but some of the rare plants need certain conditions to grow and thrive." Plasmius' eyes lit up when he was discussing his garden, it was plain to see, at least to Jack that he was very interested in it.

"A real ghost lair!" Jack exclaimed. "I've never seen one before, do you think I can see yours Vl-Plasmius? You could show me how you formed it and what ghosts do in their lairs and you could tell me about the different kinds of ghost plants!"

Plasmius almost laughed, invite a ghost hunter into his home? He'd have to move his entire lair somewhere else afterwards and he liked where he was. But the honest look of excitement kept him from laughing outright. Jack was serious. "Your family doesn't seem to trust me all that much, I don't think they'd let me take you somewhere in the zone just like that." Maddie would probably shoot his other leg.

"Aw, no. They seem intimidating but they just had a lot more time with the ghost half of Vlad. Seeing you probably brings up some bad memories. I'm sure they'd be fine with it!" Jack opened the door to the guest room and set Plasmius down on a chair with a gentleness that was surprising for someone as big as him. He started making up the bed for him. "Do ghosts get cold? Would you like an extra comforter?" He asked after a minute.

"Not all ghosts, but that would be nice." Plasmius replied absentmindedly as he thought over Jack's request. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to say no to Jack. He had just met him and yet it felt akin to kicking a puppy, you just couldn't. "You seem pretty convinced that I'm this Vlad. What happens if it turns out I am? I could be lying about my memory loss to gain an advantage on you if he really is as evil as you all say he is, I wouldn't trust me in your situation. Of course there's the other side where if I'm not him, well you are a ghost hunter and I'm a ghost." And sure, they didn't shoot their own son, that was expected. But a ghost they had no connection to? He didn't like those odds.

"Simple!" Jack replied brightly. "If you are Vlad there's no way you are lying right now. Vlad was an awful lier, so if you're him then you really did lose your memory!"

Jack picked him up and set him on the bed. "If you aren't him… I mean if you saw a picture of his ghost form you'd know why we all have a hard time thinking you could be anyone else, sure, there are differences between you and the Wisconsin Ghost but it's a very similar look, too similar to just handwave away. But if you aren't him then there's no law saying I have to go after you, guns blazing. My own son is half ghost, I can keep an open mind."

"You are surprisingly level headed considering that the rest of your family hates me." Plasmius said. "Fine. Yes, once I am better I shall show you my lair. If I would trust any human, you seem like a good option." Truthfully he was still rather leery of the idea of a _human_ in his lair but Jack seemed to wish him no harm, and Plasmius couldn't help but take a liking to him.

"Great!" Jack cheered. "I'll let you get some rest now, sorry for talking your ear off."

"Oh… Er… you don't have to go. Unless you need to. If you have work to do I understand but I won't be getting any rest anyway. I really don't intend on sleeping until I'm back in my home."

Jack looked like Christmas had come early. "You want me to stay in here with you?"

"Y-Yes? If you don't mind of course." Plasmius couldn't believe that such a simple thing would make him that happy. Vlad must have been pretty awful to him. He resolved to try and fix that, even if he wasn't convinced that he was Vlad.

"I don't mind! I can tell you all about Vlad and maybe it'll spark something!" He sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"Yes, I don't see why not. It can't hurt to try." Plasmius nodded with a small smile of his own.

"Well we were neighbors when we were kids, back in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We were best of buddies, then your… Uh, Vlad's dad passed away and he came to live with me!" Jack said brightly.

"So you and Vlad were like step brothers then?" Plasmius asked, feeling worse and worse about how this Vlad had treated Jack.

"Yep! Like two peas in a pod. We went everywhere together!" Jack replied with a grin. "I think the first time we didn't see each other on a daily basis was after college."

"Ah, did you go into different studies?"

"No… Vlad actually never finished his degree, even though he really didn't need it. He made some amazing stuff when he got enough funding. But… uh… there was… an accident. Y-or Vlad got hurt. They didn't know what exactly he had so the hospital kept him on every warning there was. People were suiting up just to deliver the poor guy his food and visitors were out of the question."

"Oh, I see. Is that how Vlad died?"

"N-Actually… I think, at least half.." Jack's frown deepened. "Problem is, I don't know most of what happened then. None of us do. Danny knows more but Vlad kept to himself after he was released up until about seven years ago. I do know that at some point he became a half ghost and learned to control his powers… otherwise it's all a mystery to me." He sighed. "He invited us to a college reunion and everything seemed… not better but like things could be fixed. I tried to pretend everything was back to normal but it ended up making everything worse. I don't know how he died either, not the specifics anyway. If you aren't him then there's a chance he's even alive still but… I can't really see you not being him. I guess you could call your arrival a real good news/ bad news situation. I'm happy to see you, but it means… y'know."

Plasmius was sure there was more nuance to the situation than he was catching, but he had grasped the broad strokes and that was enough to work with for now. Jack had lost a brother, gotten him back, and then lost him all over again. Now he was here as a schrodinger's death announcement. "I'm sorry…" He hesitantly put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "That must have been hard for you. It's not much, but if I was Vlad… I'd-"

Danny chose that moment to enter the room with a tray of food, cutting off whatever Plasmius was about to say. He took one look between the two and his eyes flashed bright green. "Hey, don't you touch him!"

"Danny? Hey, it's okay we were just talking." Jack said.

"Yeah? Well his hand is a little too close to your throat for my taste."

Plasmius dropped his arm and resumed his icy demeanor. "My apologies. It will not happen again."

"Vladdie…"

"Plasmius." He corrected stiffly. "And I'm not eating whatever he has there. He can just take it back thank you."

Jack looked like he wanted to say more but sighed. "Right… let's let Plasmius have some alone time, okay Danny?" Jack stood up and steered Danny back out the door. "I'll be back later okay?"

"That sounds fine, as long as _he_ does not come with you." Plasmius nodded his head to Danny.

"Right, see you in a bit." The door clicked softly closed.


End file.
